Case Number 10966: Small Claims Court

THE MILTON THE MONSTER SHOW: THE COMPLETE SERIES

The Charge

Three drops of the Essence of Terror,Five drops of Sinister
Sauce...

The Case

Once heralded as truly terrifying, Universal Studios iconic monsters, Dracula
and the Frankenstein monster ultimately became the subjects of comedic romps and
kid-friendly features. Although they had genuinely frightened theater audiences
during the 1930s and 1940s, these unnatural incarnations became the televised
content of silly situations in the 1960s. In 1964, both The Addams Family
and The Munsters arrived via the cathode ray tube to delight television
audiences/ Leveraging off of their success, long time animator and producer, Hal
Seeger weighed in with his own like-minded offering, 1965's ABC Saturday morning
series, The Milton the Monster Show.

Using an ensemble approach, Seeger brought Milton the Monster to life in a
half-hour format. Each show featured three six-minute adventures, one with
Milton himself and another two featuring adventures from other characters like
heroic insect Fearless Fly, clumsy cowboy-turned-private investigator Flukey
Luke, unwitting hobo-turned-millionaire Stuffy Durma, sly and scheming boy fox
Muggy-Doo, and bratty and abrasive girl Arctic fowl Penny Penguin. To provide
continuity to the show's theme, Seeger also developed a Milton wrap-around at
the start and end, plus Milton-themed bumpers that would signal an oncoming
commercial message or the start of another cartoon. It made for typical Saturday
morning fare, but it's the sort that maintains its appeal today since it never
panders or preaches to viewers, young or old.

Following the opening titles, Fearless Fly would appear to lead off the fun.
The heroic fly gained his power from his special glasses, which generate
"millions of megatons of energy through the sensitive muscles in his
head." Careful not to reveal his secret identity, Fearless Fly hides out in
a matchbox and removes his costume and glasses, thereby becoming meek and mild
Hiram Fly. His nemesis is an Asian megalomaniac, Dr. Goo Fee, who seeks to kill
Fearless Fly with the help of his dimwitted assistant Gung Ho. When not
thwarting the doctor's inane antics, Fearless-as-Hiram hangs out in a sugar bowl
with fly friends Dorey and Horsey.

Next up, you could expect to see a follow-on cartoon featuring Muggy-Doo,
Flukey Luke, Stuffy Durma, or Penny Penguin. Muggy Doo is a wiseacre fox always
causing trouble among the humans in the big city. Flukey Luke and his Indian
sidekick, Two Feathers, spend their time as New York City detectives undermining
mob boss Spider Webb. Stuffy Durma is a railroad hobo who inherits $10 million
and unwittingly gives up his unfettered and uncouth lifestyle at the insistence
of his hired assistant, Bradley Brinkley. Lastly, Penny Penguin is an obnoxious
girl penguin who maintains that her misbehavior is the fault of ill-adjusted
parents.

As for the star of the show, Milton is the product of a creation gone awry.
Atop the foreboding Horror Hill, Professor Weirdo and his assistant, Count Kook,
accidentally include too much sensitivity into their monster makings, resulting
in a flat-headed hulk that is one part Herman Munster and another Gomer Pyle. As
their singsong narrative explains:

And now for the Tincture of Tenderness,But I must use only a
touch.For without a touch of tenderness, he might destroy me!Oops! Too much!

Milton can blow smoke from his stack-like head yet is rarely riled. His
monster siblings -- more creations from Prof. Weirdo -- are Heebie the walking
corpse and Jeebie the one-eyed, one-toothed, fur-covered whatchamacallit. Most
adventures have the Prof. and Count looking for ways to rid themselves of the
too-tender Milton, that is when the Prof. isn't vying for monster-making secrets
from his contemporary, Professor Fruitcake.

Don't expect Looney Tunes-like animation here, although the quality is
competent and on par with the likes of Hanna-Barbera productions. Voice talent
Bob McFadden (Cool McCool) is put to excellent work here, providing the
majority of characterizations. He's joined by fellow voice artists of the day
including Dayton Allen, Larry Best, and Beverly Arnold.

Collectively, the various characters of the show offer pleasant distractions
with definite 1960s nostalgic charm. By today's standards, there is probably
plenty of politically incorrect content to be offended by, but only if you're
looking for it. The depiction of Goo Fee and Gung Ho are typically unbecoming
Asian stereotypes of decades gone by, and Stuffy Durma could be construed as an
insensitive portrait of homelessness, but that would be a definite stretch.
Interestingly, the depiction of Flukey Luke's compatriot, the Indian Two
Feathers, veers away from contention due to his oddity of speaking with an Irish
accent (!). Non-recurring characters in the series can also be out of step with
today's culturally hypersensitive mindset but, if taken for what it is -- a
cartoon that actually has plenty of clever writing and wit -- then it's just a
bit of fun that has plenty of playfulness injected throughout.

A perennial favorite that charmed kid viewers during its prevalent
syndication through the late 1960s and into the 1970s, The Milton the Monster
Show makes a long overdue bow on DVD thanks to the fine folks at Shout!
Factory. This four-disc set comprises the entire catalog of 26 episodes, each
running about 22 minutes each. Presented in its original 1.33:1 full frame
format, the quality here is much better than expected. The source prints are
remarkably clean; they exhibit a certain amount of damage and dirt, but nothing
that is ever of a distracting nature. The color is tuned up, obviously, but it
works well to provide vibrant warmth to the proceedings. Edge enhancement,
unfortunately, is frequently evident, resulting in plenty of occurrences of
aliasing. Still, this doesn't render the image quality unacceptable. Perhaps
it's better than if the episodes were delivered in a less-welcome blurred
quality reminiscent of the crap-vision VHS days gone by. The audio is offered in
a very clean and clear Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono mix that's very consistent, never
swerving into alternating fits of hiss or warble. Most importantly, the episodes
are presented in their entirety, including complete wrap-arounds and all of the
in-between bumpers. (Enthusiasts only wish the original sponsor spots could
somehow be included with shows of this sort.) All in all, this is a very
competent mastering that the Shout! production team should be proud of. But
there are extras, too, beginning with some incredibly rare live action segments
of an adapted Flukey Luke show, filmed in black and white with Luke appearing as
an oversized dog. There are some excellent home movies of Hal Seeger appearing
at the N.Y.C. Toy Fair to promote his characters, and, finally, a bonus cartoon,
Wilbur the Wanted, telling of a wrongly convicted dog on the lam trying
to expose the rabbit that framed him.

At the end of the day, the Shout! team has delivered another pop culture
gem. Those who recall Milton and his friends will enjoy a thoroughly enjoyable
romp back to Horror Hill. This set is highly recommended!